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Patelco Credit Union 7% APY New Member CD
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Patelco Credit Union is a credit union out in California that was started, in 1936 with $500, to support the financial needs of the employees of Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company. Since then, they’ve grown to $4 billion in assets, 250,000 members, and now serve over a thousand businesses and communities.
So, why mention Patelco? I mention them because they offer a 7.00% APY new member certificate of deposit that more than doubles the highest rate on my list of best certificate of deposit rates. OK, before you get excited, the New Member CD has a maximum balance of $1,000 and a minimum balance of $1,000 and is, effectively, a $70 bonus for new accounts.
So why bother even mentioning this when most of us won’t qualify to join the credit union?
It’s a little reminder that your local bank or credit union might be the best offer available even if you don’t see it listed on nationally available rate lists. If I was eligible and looking for a credit union, I’d give Patelco a good look. The new member CD promotional offer gets me in the door. The 2.73% APY CD 12-23 months is pretty competitive and their 5.00% APR 30 year fixed mortgage loans is not bad, each probably beats locally available banks in those categories.
I’m not recommending that you open a Patelco Credit Union account (but you should have a credit union account somewhere) but I do recommend that you check your local banks and credit unions to see how their rates compare to the bigger banks, you may see something you like.
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I don’t understand this sentence: “…the New Member CD has a maximum balance of $1,000 and a minimum balance of $1,000 and is, effectively, a $70 bonus for new accounts.”
Sorry if it was unclear, I meant that you could only deposit $1,000 into the 7% CD, which results in $70 in interest over the year. I equated the new member promotion to a $70 bonus.
Patelco habitually offers some of the highest savings account rates in the country as well. Despite that and a convenient location, I have putting any deposits with them because they are not NCUA (which is the equivalent of FDIC, for credit unions) insured.
http://www.ncua.gov/ShareInsurance/index.htm
http://www.google.com/search?q=NCUSIF%20site%3Apatelco.com
In a year when we’ve seen so many financial institutions fail, and their depositors secure only because of FDIC, it’s good to get in the habit of checking whether deposits are federally insured. If you’re not willing to risk losing principle, don’t take your money to Vegas, the stock market, or uninsured banking institutions.
I do bank with Patelco the NCUA signs are posted in the bank. The link you provided also shows them as FDIC insured. You may find the following links informative…
http://www.gii.in/India/patelco-credit-union/
https://www.patelco.org/presidents_letter.aspx
Woah I actually qualify for this…thanks for the heads up. I’m not looking to open a CD right at the moment but I hope the offer sticks around.
Just an update although I doubt anyone cares.
Recently I got a small windfall unexpectedly so I decided to go ahead and open the CD. Process was super easy…opened the account online in a few minutes and chose the option to deposit the money in branch since one just opened 5 mins away from me. Got a confirmation print out at the branch and a letter in the mail the week after. Looks good (and easy) for anyone else interested.
I care! Thanks for sharing your experience Eric.
They also have a great kids saving account called gr8 rate savings it is 8% on the first $1000 for kids, age limit is 21 I think. I have not opened a 529 for my son yet cause I am getting a better return there for now.
10k would have been much better.
In the begining of 2008 Patelco was insured by NCUA.